MONTGOMERY – Alabama State University head football coach Reggie Barlow addressed the media at Monday’s Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) coaches teleconference and discussed last week’s loss at Alcorn State and this week’s important road trip to Prairie View A&M.
“We went down to Alcorn on Thursday and knew it would be a challenging game on the road,” Barlow said. “They are playing with a lot of confidence and are a well-coached team. Really it was a good ole fashioned whipping put on us. We didn’t do anything right offensively or defensively. We just didn’t have it and they dominated us in the trenches and had a great scheme and of course we came up short.”
After playing four consecutive games at home, the Hornets will be on the road for the second consecutive week when they travel to Texas to face Prairie View A&M. It is ASU’s second trip to the Longhorn State this season and the Hornets will face a talented Panthers team that is coming off a strong showing in a 48-30 road win at Jackson State.
“We have Prairie View this week, another challenging game,” Barlow said. “You tell your team each week it’s a big game and big challenge because of the parity in our league. It is no different this week when we go to Prairie View. I think it’s their homecoming and there will be a lot of festivities going on and a lot of excitement there for their program. They just had a big win against Jackson State so it’s another game we have to get up for and it’s on the road in a hostile environment. We have to get our guys ready to go so we can get back on track.”
Before the teleconference started the SWAC released this week’s players of the week. Alabama State sophomore linebacker Kourtney Berry picked up the Defensive Player of the Week honor based on his play at Alcorn State.
The SWAC’s leading tackler made 15 total stops against the Braves with 12 of those being solos. Berry now has a SWAC-leading 67 total stops on the season. The 15 tackles equals his single-game tackles record he had set last season at Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Berry is averaging 11.1 tackles per game which is second in the SWAC. It is the fourth weekly honor this season for the preseason defensive player of the year.
